Question

A man playing a flute is able to produce notes of different frequencies. If he closes the holes near his mouth, will the pitch of the note produced, increase or decrease? Give a reason.

Answer 1

When the holes near the month are closed, the effective length of air column increases so the pitch of sound decreases as the frequency of note produced is inversly proportional to the length of air column.

Answer 2

When a man playing a flute closes the holes near his mouth, the length of the vibrating air column inside the flute increases. This longer air column lowers the frequency of the sound waves, which in turn lowers the pitch of the note produced. So, when he closes the holes near his mouth, the pitch of the note will decrease. This is because pitch is directly related to the frequency of the sound waves: lower frequency results in a lower pitch, and higher frequency results in a higher pitch.